Rail joint



AU8 6, 1929- H. B. HoDGsoN v 1,723,421

v RAIL JOINT Filed Sept. 6, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet l nnnnnl z2 l ZI lIo/verita? Aug. 6, 1929. H. B. HoDGsoN RAIL JOINT File sept. 6, 1928 '3Sheets-Sheet 2 Aug. 6, 1929. H. B. HODGSON 1,723,421

RAIL JOINT Filed Sept. 6, 192B 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 y 9 ji Patented Aug. 6,1929.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HUGH B. HOIDGSON, F MOBRIDGE, SOUTH DAKOTA.

:RAIL JOINT.

' joint ada ted to be quickly andr easily applied, an capable of use fora permanent or emergency jointrand applicable between or over the ties.

Another object of the invention is to provide a highly elficient railjoint which will securely clamp the ends ot a pair of rails togetherwithout employing a. plurality of bolts passing through the web of eachrail, which will permit expansion and contraction of the rails due tovariation in temperature, and which will distribute pressures andstrains throughout the flange, web and head of the rail.

Another object is to provide a rail joint which is equally applicablefor joining a pair of rails together, or in conjunction for use in theconstruction of flanges, switches and turnouts. f

A further obj ect is to provide a railfjoint of practically universalapplication 'for use in joining a pair of rails of different weights andheights, and especially adaptable for joining rails in bridge or culvertconstruction.

It is still a further object to provide a rail joint, wherein it is onlynecessary to pass one bolt through the end of each of the two railsjoined.r

More specifically, it is an object to provide a rail joint comprising apair of 3o-operating clan'iping members, one of which has a baseadaptedto underlie and support the rails, and the other of which has adepending portion adapted to be clamped with therbasek portion of said`tirst mentioned clamping member, said clamping members carryingelongated fish plates which apply and distribute pressure evenly againstthe flange, web and head oit the rails.

These and other objects andadvantages ot' the invention will be apparentfrom the following description made in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, in which like reference characters refer to similar partsthroughout the several views, and inl which- Fig. l is a plan view of anembodiment of my invention a plied to a pair of rails;

Fig. 2 is a si(l e elevation of the same;

Fig, f-T is a cross section luiken' through eneave beneath the head C ofthe rai'.

the rail showing my device in end elevation;

Fig. 4 is a plan view showing my rail joint in use in cooperation with atiller block, for joining rails in the heel of a switch;

Fig, 5 is a cross section taken on the line 5 5 of Fig. t, showing mydevice in end elevation; and

Figs. 6 and 7 illustrate a side elevation and a plan view respectivelyof my joint, moditied slightly for the purpose of joining rails ofunequal sizes and weights.

As illustrated, my rail joint comprises a pair of heavy clamping membersdesignated as entireties by the letters A and B, which are adapted toco-operate when clamped together by suitable means to secure the ends ofa pair of rails together, or to secure the ends of two `pairs of railstogether, when used in switch,

`frog or turnout construction in co-operation with suitable fillerblocks. The (3o-operating clamping members Aand B mayy be constructed ofany suitable steel or iron which has a slight degree of resiliency, forthe purpose to be later described.

The heavier clamping member A is provided with a thick inverted U-shapedbase 6 forming a pair of spaced depending blocks 6 adapted, it' desired,to straddle a rail and leaving a horizontal rail support 7 extendingbetween said blocks, which is adapted to underlie the flanges of therails to be joined. Base 6 carries an elongatedlish plate 8 which is'preferably integrally formed therewith and connected thereto by heavyinclined arm 9 extending upwardly and inwardly from the outer edge ofysaid base, said arms being spaced apart and overlying the vspaced baseblocksfGa. A horizontal upstanding flange l0 connects arms 9, and is'disposed above the outer edge of the rail support 7, and adjacent saidflange a slot or elongated aperture 1l is forinedthrough the railsupport 7.

i The fish plate 8 is concave-convex in cross section and is somewhatwidened and rounded at its base 8', said base being adapted to engageand exert pressure against the thickened portion of the flange of' therail. The upper edge oit the fish plate A has slightly rounded corners,the inner corner being adapted to engage against the web lV of the railand the outer Corner being adapted to z: and portions et the upper edgesare oiiset or The l recessed at 8h, so that the ends of the .fish platewill not engage the head of the rail for a purpose to be laterdescribed.

Mly clamping member B comprises a depending inverted U-shaped strap 12of simin lar shape in side elevation to the U-shaped base 6 of clampingmember A, and a fish plate 13 preferably integrally formed with thestrap 12 is carried thereby, being of similar construction to the fishplate S carried by clamping member A. Fish pla-te 13 is, of course,adapted to engage the rail, at

Vthe opposite side of hsh plate S and, like fish plate 8, has a widenedbase 13 adapted to engage the thickened portion of the flange F of therail and an upper-*portion having inner and outer corners engaging theweb and head of the rail respectively. Fish plate 13 is integrallyconnected with strap 12 by means of inclined arms 14 of similarconstruction inv shape, to the arms 9 of clamping member A, and the armsare reinforced by means of a ange or bar 15 of similar shape to theflange 10 of member A. An elongated slot or aperture 16 is fomed inmember B disposed adjacent and inwardly of bar 15, said aperturecorresponding with the aperture 11 in member A.

Oppositely alined bolt holes are formed in the ends of fish plates 8 and13 through which heavy clamping bolts 17 are adapted to extend, saidbolts passing through large holes H formed through the web of the rails,one of said enlarged holes only being formed in each of the two rails tobe joined. The holes in the web of the railsl are of such diameter'thatthere will be adequate clearance for the bolts and consequently nopressure can be placed upon the bolts when a train'passes over therails, or during expansion yor contraction of the rails due to variationin temperature. I prefer to reverse the two bolts utilized for clampingfish plates, as clearly shown in Fig. 1. l

Sufficient clearance spaces 19 and 2O are left between the arms 9 andthe outer edge of the rail flange F, and between the arms 1e and theadjacent outer edge of the rail flange F to prevent vthe clampingmembers from engaging said outer edges of the vHarige when they aredrawn together.

The base blocks 6 have elongated horir/ontal bolt holes therethroughextending transversely to the rail which are alined with bolt holesthrough the depending portions of the strap 12 of member B, and throughsaid corresponding bolt holes of said members A and B, elongated heavyclamping bolts 21 extend, said bolts preferably having square orpolygonal-shaped portions adjacent their heads which are adapted tonon-rotatably engage sockets formed adjacent the outer ends 'of the boltholes, as clearly shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, and the holes arepreferably reversed as shown in said view. Suitable clamping nuts 22threadedly engage the ends of bolts 21.

l prefer to provide relatively small outwardly extending toes 10P and 15respectively, on the medial portions of the flange 1() and bar 15, whichtoes are adapted to be engaged by the heads of the ordinary railroadspikes S shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3 when it is desired to spike thejoint to a tie T. rl`he functions and advantages of my improved railjoint may be briefly described as follows:

The clamping members A and B may be applied either over the tie, asshown in the drawings, or between the ties. be obvious that the devicemay be utilized, not only as a permanent joint, but very successfully asan emergency joint, when a rail becomes fractured, especially since itmay be applied very quickly.

As shown in the drawings, the clamping members A and B straddle a tie,the hea-vier clamping member A having its base portion 6 disposedbeneath the ends of the rails to be joined. ylfhe base of the rail restson the horizontal support 7 and the edges of the flanges are spaced fromthe members A and ll, suflicient cl arance being provided at 19 and 20,as heretofore set forth. After the clamping members are looselypositioned at opposite sides of the rail with the bolt holes alined, thelarge bolts 21 are inserted being reversed, as shown in Fig. 1, and saidbolts being non-rotatably held in the socket-s provided in the blocks 6and in the depending port-ion of straps 12. The nuts 22 are then appliedand the clamping members are drax'vn together. The shorter bolts 17 arethen applied through the corresponding bolt holes in the fish plates andthe nuts 1S applied to the threaded ends. All bolts are then tightened,causing the fish plates to simultaneously apply pressure against thethickened portion of the flange of the rail, against the upper portionof the webvof the rail andagainstthe under side of the head of the rail.T he members A and B, as stated, are constructed of suitable steel oriron having some degree of` resiliency, whereby the fish plates A andarms 9 will yield slightly as the several bolts are tightened, causingthe lower edges or bases of the fish plates to be brought closer intowards the flange of the rail and also causing the upper edges of thefish plates to tend to raise the rail. The rail is thus securely clampedbetween the two clamping members A and B, and it will be seen that nopart of the web of the rail can exert any pressure against the two boltswhich pass through the rail, and that adequate clearance is supplied for:ipansion or contraction of the rail due to variations in temperaturewithout placing a sheering strain upon the bolts.

Where the clamping members are applied lt will thus over a tie, it willbe seen that the rails cannot creep to any appreciable extent since theblocks 6 straddle the ties. lt will, however, be seen that my device isequally applicable to joints in rails or emergency joints between tics.For bridge or culvert construction the utility ot my device will beapjmrent to those skilled in the arts, since the'base (i straddles thetie and prevents creepuge,

4The importance of the horizontal shelf or rail support 7, extending theentire length oit the elongated base ot the member A, cannot beoverlooked in its co-operation with the clamping elements or [ishplates. The joint is greatly reinforced and supported at the under sideof the flange of the rail for a considerable distance by the shelf 7.

l/Vhile in Figs. l to 3, inclusive, the device illustrated inaj'iplication to a pair olf rails of similar construction, the joint canbe equally well applied to join two rails of diitlerent weights andheights.

In Figs. 4.- and 5, the application ot my rail joint is illustrated foruse in joining' a pair oit rails in the heels ot switches, frogs or'turnouts As illustrated, a suitable liller block E is used inconnection with my clamping members A and B, said liller bloch littingbetween and properly spacingl the two diverging tracks. Filler block Epreferably has a recessed upper surface to accommodate the lianges ofthe car wheels. The base 6 underlies one of the rails, while a suitableplate P oit equal thickness to the horizontal support 7 is placedbetween the rails oit the other track and a tie. Considerably longerclamping` bolts 2l and 17a are necessitated ttor clamping the(to-operating members A and B together, but the clamping action',functions and distribution ot pressure to the rails is identical withthe application oil my device to a single pair ot rails.

In Figs. 6 and 7, an embodiment of my invention illustrated ttor specialapplication in joining a pair oit rails ot unequal weights and sizes. Asillustrated, au eightylive pound rail X is joined with a. seventy-- livepound rail Y. The two clampingmombers, designated as entireties by theletters A and B respectively are modilied trom the structure shown inFigs. l to 3, inclusive as `follows:n

Each of the members A and B has onehalf ol? its body proportioned tosnugly engage 'the heavier, or as shown, the eighty-five pound rail. andhalt' of its body proportioned. and formed to snugly engage the lighter,or as shown, the seven ty-live pound rail Y. The dividing lines for thedifferently proportioned halves of each member A and B are disposedmedially and vertically of the two clamping members. Thus, the shelf orsupport 'for the ends oft the two rails to be joined has a slightlyraised portion 7 and a slightly depressed portion 7 :tor the heavierrail and the fish plates 8 andy 13 resjjiectively have oll'setpoi-tunis, as shown 1n Fig. 6 to properly engage the heavier and lighterrails. said `)ortions also beine of slin'htl dill'erent requires aspecial joint Ylor use in joining rails of unequal weights and sizes.lilith the strueture above described, the clamping bolts 2l and 17 maybe applied in the manner described .in connection with the embodiment ofthe invention illustrated in Figs. l to 3 to tightly and ellicientlyclamp the ends of the rails X and Y together and the joint may beilormed over `the tie, as illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7, or between apair ot ties.

rllhe apertures 11 and 1G in members A and B permit sand and othermaterial to work through the clamping,` members and prevent the same'lrom lodging or working beneath the rail. rllhe concave-convexstructure of .[ish plates permits electrical. wires for sighals etc., topass through the joint without interference 'from the clamping action ofthe .members A and B.

From the foregoing description, it will be Seen that Iv have invented acomparatively simple, but highly eliicient rail joint for permanent oremergency use in joining rails together. This device can be used over atie, straddling the same, and preventing creepage of the rail, or it canbe used as an emergency joint between the ties. It has also been shownthat the device is highly etlicient lfor oiningf rails in the heels ontswitches, frogs and turnouts.

lt will, ol? course, be understood that various changes may be made inthe form, details, arrangement and proportions oi. the parts Withoutdeparting irom the scope of apjilicants invention.

lVhat is claimed is:

`1. In a joint for rails, a pair of cooperating clamping' membersadapted to be disposed at opposite sides ot the meeting ends of a pairolf rails, said clamping members having opposed base portions spacedapart and having over-hang-inginwardly extending portions spaced abovethe flanges 6i' 'the rails and each having an elongated `fish-plateportion integrally toi-metil with said overhanging portion, saidl'isheplate portions being' adajiii ed to engage opposite sides ot thellange, web and head oli the rail to distribute the clamping pressure,bolts extending through said iislvplate portions and the web olf therail tor clamping` the same and clamping bolts passing through theopposed. hase portions oil said clampingmembers.

. 2. In a joint for rails, a pair of cooperating clamping membersadapted to be disposed at opposite sides of the meeting ends of a pairClamping bolts extending' through the op- -posed and spaced baseportions below the rail.

8. The structure set forth in claim 2, Wherein said fish-plate portionsand said overhanging` portions of said clamping members are resilientand Clamping bolts extending' through the web of said rails and saidtishplate portions.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

HUGH B. HODGSON.

